Every Season of The Traitors, Ranked

When the Dutch reality series De Verraders premiered in 2021, few could’ve predicted the popularity the franchise would go on to achieve. And yet it makes sense: A game of social deduction akin to the party game Mafia, it’s an easy format to replicate — and sure enough, it wasn’t long before networks and streaming services in other countries got to work on their own versions. Now over 20 international versions exist, including five in English, with BBC One’s version building a particularly impressive viewership. (In the final week of its most recent season, it was the most-watched program on TV in the U.K.) The show has been a hit in the U.S., too, breaking records for an original reality-TV show on Peacock. The streamer has capitalized on that skyrocketing popularity: The latest seasons of the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand versions became available for streaming in the last month, with N.Z. currently dropping episodes weekly.

All seasons of The Traitors have a few basics in common: A group of 20-ish contestants is divided into Faithfuls and Traitors, with the Traitors secretly convening each night to murder a Faithful. The heart of the show is the dramatic roundtables that take place each evening, during which the players vote to banish their top Traitor suspects. (There’s also some time for low-stakes missions to break up the conflict and earn cash for the big prize, but pretty much everyone agrees the missions are the most boring part, no matter which version you’re watching.)

Here’s a ranking of every English-language season of The Traitors — for the newcomers curious to dip a toe in the water but also the hard-core completists wondering what they’re in for.

8. The Traitors Australia, Season 2

It’s a common theme with this franchise: the worst seasons tend to feature the stupidest Faithfuls. Sure, it can be deliriously fun to watch Traitors run strategic circles around their victims; I find myself rooting for Traitors more often than not. But in season two of The Traitors: Australia, it’s more frustrating than satisfying to watch the Faithfuls screw up time after time, seemingly swayed by whomever spoke last at the roundtable. It’s like they have no object permanence. Part of the problem with this season is that the wrong people stick around longest, especially one particularly grating Traitor who isn’t even fun to root against. I’ll say this, though: The finale is pitch-perfect, a shocking and hilarious troll of a conclusion to one troll of a season. It was announced late last year that The Traitors: Australia won’t be returning due to low ratings, and it’s a bit of a shame it couldn’t end with a stellar final run — but at least this infuriating season ended on a high note.

7. The Traitors Canada,Season 1

This is the definition of a just-okay season of The Traitors. French Canadian actress Karine Vanasse makes for a decent host: cool and mysterious but with a companionable warmth that comes out on occasion. Everything works fine, for the most part, with a solid trio of Traitors (one of whom flames out early with some obvious overacting) and a generally endearing cast of Faithfuls. It all just plays out a little predictably, with the drama peaking sometime in the middle of the season and then falling off a bit toward the end. There’s nothing wrong with this cast, really; they just aren’t super memorable. The Traitors Canada is currently the one English-language version that isn’t streaming on Peacock, and it’s no huge loss.

6. The Traitors U.S., Season 1

Alan Cumming is an inspired choice as a host, and for many viewers, he’s the definitive host of The Traitors. (He’s not mine, but I can appreciate his commitment to the character and his commitment to camp.) But while the American version of The Traitors may have nailed its murder-mystery aesthetics from the beginning, its initial mix of reality-TV stars and normies didn’t make for a very balanced cast. The naïve, helpless normies mostly faded into the background of the edit, subsumed by larger-than-life personalities like Big Brother’s Rachel Reilly and Below Deck’s amusingly apathetic Kate Chastain, who generated decent TV even when the gameplay itself was lacking. But the main joy of watching this season comes from watching Survivor’s Cirie Fields do what she does best: make real, human connections while cutting her new friends’ throats.

5. The Traitors N.Z., Season 1

Typically for a series like this, casting departments make a point of selecting people who’ve never met. But part of the surprising charm of The Traitors N.Z. comes from a handful of preexisting relationships among the cast, like the friendship between Traitor Dan Sing and Faithful turned Traitor Brooke Howard-Smith. Perhaps we have New Zealand’s relatively small pool of reality-TV hopefuls to thank for the camaraderie of this ensemble — and while that casual group-hang vibe might discourage the type of intense conflict that pops up in the franchise’s best seasons, it makes for a pleasant vibe. As a host and radio and TV presenter, Paul Henry is nothing special, but this is a very solid all-newbies season of The Traitors, especially because of some unusually good instincts from the Faithfuls.

4. The Traitors U.K., (Season 2)

Remember when I said it can be a blast to watch Traitors outplay Faithfuls? This is the season I was thinking of. Most of the biggest moves in this season came from the Traitors, with Faithfuls often totally unaware that they were witnessing shocking acts of Traitor-on-Traitor violence at the roundtable. But the Faithfuls’ lack of agency is easy to ignore when the momentum is this strong from start to finish. Jaz Singh is one of the best and most interesting Faithfuls of the franchise, while both Harry Clark and Paul Gorton have particularly strong Traitor arcs that build on and parallel each other. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Diane and Ross Carson, a secret mother-and-son pair who had everybody fooled. Peak TV.

3. The Traitors Australia, Season 1

Frequently listed as a favorite by fans, this season features less emotional gameplay and more tactical gameplay, compared to the first season of U.K. There’s far less crying and more back-stabbing, with the players feeling freer to treat this as the game it is — both the ruthless Traitors (like hostage negotiator Nigel Brennan) and the unusually logical Faithfuls (like OG “Traitor hunter” Mark Norman). This one also features a surprisingly clever Traitor recruit who only really comes into their own as a character once they switch allegiances. Rodger Corser’s brand of charm is more traditional than other hosts, and perhaps that style lacks a certain edge, but he’s still a solid choice. The only real ding against the season is some weird editing, including two bizarrely under-edited contestants who make it much further than you’d expect.

2. The Traitors U.S., Season 2

Not everyone will agree with this placement, but for the two months season two of The Traitors was on TV, it was appointment viewing. I’m someone who generally prefers all-normie casts to reality-star casts, but pivoting from half-reality to all-reality made for a hugely improved, evenly matched season two. I came for Survivor’s Parvati and Sandra, as well as Big Brother’s Dan and Janelle, but quickly grew attached to the whole cast, especially the brilliant Phaedra Parks, who’s pure TV gold. Even without any investment in particular cast members, this is a fiercely entertaining and accessible story, thanks to incredibly efficient editing and the committed participation of an ensemble of true reality-TV all-stars. While U.K. season two invented new forms of Traitor strategy, U.S. season two was busy inventing new forms of Faithful strategy, like the annoyingly smart shield gambit cooked up by Bachelor alum Peter Weber. And the endgame gave me something I never thought I would’ve wanted — in the most thrilling, jaw-dropping way possible.

1. The Traitors U.K., Season 1

Sure, it might not have the savviest Faithful gameplay, but season one of The Traitors U.K. remains the perfect entry point into this franchise. The casting has never been better than this — not because these players are actually all that “good” at the game, but because their (at times extreme) emotional investment makes it actually feel like life or death. These are people who very, very quickly grow close, and that makes every betrayal and every misjudged banishment land with an emotional immediacy lacking from other (more traditionally strategy-heavy) seasons. The game takes a toll on Traitors and Faithfuls alike, and real feelings come up that have nothing to do with fear of murder and banishment — take Matt’s crush on Alex, who has agreed to tell nobody that her real boyfriend is one of their fellow players. Part of this version’s signature lovey-doveyness comes from Claudia Winkleman, easily my favorite Traitors host: She’s offbeat and subtly funny, and she offers a dose of darkness without hiding her affection for the players. Maddy’s obsessive suspicion of Wilf, Aaron’s panic attack at the roundtable, Kieran’s parting gift … U.K. season one is a wild, addictive, drama-filled ride, and nothing has quite topped it.